Accelerated Master's Option

The Accelerated Master's allows undergraduate students to take graduate level courses and apply these to both their undergraduate and graduate course requirements. This is not a degree program. It is a path that allows SFU undergraduate students planning to pursue graduate studies to complete their graduate coursework in less time.

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible for the Accelerated Master's, applicants must:

• be a current SFU undergraduate student,
• have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.67,
• have completed at least 90 credits of undergraduate work,
• have completed at least 24 credits of upper division IAT coursework (300-400 level)

Approval for the Accelerated Master’s Option does not guarantee admission to the MA/MSc program.  Students must satisfy admission requirements for graduate studies at SFU and the School of Interactive Arts and Technology to be admitted to the MA or MSc program. 

How to Apply

1. Find one or more faculty members interested in supervising you in your Accelerated Master's. This can be done by:

• speaking with faculty members from the School of Interactive Arts and Technology with whom you have an existing relationship. 
• identifying and contacting faculty members in your area of interest by visiting the SIAT web site page. Your faculty supervisor will help you make course selections and provide supervisory advice while completing graduate courses.

2. Obtain approval from the Undergraduate and Graduate Program Chairs. Email siat_advising@sfu.ca with your request. 

3. Once you have received this approval, you will apply for conditional admission to the MA or MSc program following the same procedure as regular graduate admission. Please do not submit this application until you have been approved to participate in the Accelerated Master's.

Degree Completion

Students in this option must fulfill the degree requirements of both the bachelor’s program and the Master’s program in Interactive Arts and Technology. Students will only be admitted to the Master's program once they have completed their undergraduate degree. The culmination of the Accelerated Master’s option is the Master's degree.   

Students are expected to complete their Master’s degree within eighteen months. 

Fees

Students will pay the undergraduate per credit rate for all undergraduate courses and the graduate per credit rate for all graduate courses while they are registered in their undergraduate program. Once the students complete their Bachelor's degree, they will pay the appropriate graduate tuition fees for that program.

Students are ineligible for funding or graduate scholarships or awards administered from SFU sources until they complete their bachelor's degree.

Course Selection

Students admitted into the Accelerated Master’s option may take up to 9 units of graduate courses that may be counted towards both the Bachelor's degree and the Master's degree.  Students must take at least two of the three required foundation courses for the IAT graduate program - IAT 803, 804, and 806 - as they offer an introduction to research within Interactive Arts and Technology.

Students are not allowed to take IAT 805 Research Colloquium as part of the Accelerated Master’s option.  Students may audit IAT 805 if they are interested.

The accelerated courses may be used towards the Master's program requirements of the thesis option only if all other requirements are met within 18 months of completion of the Bachelor's degree requirements.  

Transferring from the accelerated option to the regular program is possible. Students may withdraw at any time from an Accelerated Master’s option by informing the Chairs of the SIAT Undergraduate and Graduate Programs and the Dean of Graduate Studies in writing.

For more information go to: https://www.sfu.ca/dean-gradstudies/future/academicprograms/AcceleratedMasters.html